Rise of the Monkey King
by Chayo the Confused
Summary: Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past. By now I assume that you've heard of the silver eyed warriors, the four maidens, and of the wizard. But tell me, what have you heard about the King of Monkeys?


The Gerudo were a desert-dwelling folk, being indigenous to Vacuo Valley. Unlike most of the nomadic tribes of Vacuo, they remained living a secular lifestyle, choosing instead to build a heavily fortified city, known as the Gerudo Town. A rather peculiar aspect of the Gerudo is that their race consists almost entirely of women, with a male being born only once every hundred years. This male, when born is destined to become their king. When there is no male, the Gerudo are typically led by a chief with the position being passed on from mother to daughter. The exact nature of this phenomenon is never explained. It is known however, that at least during the current era, the lack of males among the Gerudo is countered by them taking males from the other human races. Married Gerudo do not typically live within the walls of Gerudo Town, but they enter to sell their wares at the market.

Generally, the Gerudo have been shown to be a reclusive race that does not take well to outsiders on their territory. Though they are open to other races, they still do not allow males to enter their towns. It is rumored that it is illegal to even sell men's clothing there. In spite of this, the Gerudo do in fact appreciate talent when they see it, and will accept non-Gerudo among their ranks if they can manage to prove themselves. Being a warrior race, they are well apt at combat, and have been seen using a wide variety of weapons. Some members of the race have also been shown to possess magic, although that aspect is becoming rarer and rarer in this day in age.

It was into this tribe, that Sun Wukong was born. The man who would be king.

Sun's legend began in the Eastern Corner of Vacuo, in a land known as Superior Body. There, on top of Flower-Fruit mountain, was a woman. This woman was Makeela Riju, of the Gerudo. Although she was described as a woman, the reality was much different. Makeela was young, appearing to be around the age of fourteen or fifteen.

Makeela was the daughter of the late Gerudo Chieftain Urbosa, who led the Gerudo before her unfortunate, and very early passing, forcing the youth to inherit the entirety of the Gerudo before she was ready. Unfortunately, the Gerudo were uneasy due to her young age and inexperience, which was what brought Makeela here today.

Through an unfortunate series of incidents, none of which were her fault, Makeela found herself pregnant. And although she had a good idea on who the father was, she couldn't afford to be taking care of a child at this point in her life. Not while proving herself as a able bodied leader to her town. With the help of her bodyguard Buliara, who was devastated to realize that she had let Makeela become pregnant on her watch, they had managed to hide her growing belly and managed to take care of her duties until she could safely be spirited away someplace to give birth to her child.

Hence the Flower-Fruit Mountain. After an excruciating undisclosed time period, Makeela and Buliara found themselves staring at Makeela's child.

Makeela's MALE child.

Makeela stared at her son, transfixed. It appeared that he had inherited traits from both her and his father in equal measure. Rather than her dark amber skin, or his pale white complexion, the babe had a sun kissed tan complexion. The one tuft of hair she could see was blonde, rather than her crimson red and his eyes were the same shade of green that she herself saw every time she looked in the mirror. Curiously, there was also a golden yellow tail curling itself around her fingers as she stroked it, lost in thought.

Link was a Faunus? She had had no idea. Although it seems like he was a monkey faunus, so something like that would have been laughably simple to hide, if it ever came up. If she ever saw him again, she would have to ask.

She was thinking herself in circles, trying to distract herself from the one thing that she now knew she didn't want to do. But she had no choice, the fact that her child was also a boy sealed his fate. If it had been a girl they could simply say that she had been Buliara's daughter's or something along those lines, it could have worked!

However, he was a boy. He had to stay here. The Gerudo's famous Thunder Helm had recently been stolen, and she had to hunt down the thieves before it was too late. She couldn't raise a child. Not now.

"Buliara, would you give us a minute?" She asked her confidante, who gave her a unreadable look before nodding and exiting the patch of woods they had chosen to do this in. She hugged her babe close to herself, releasing a great sigh.

"Little one, a male within our walls would be a great crime. But a male that is the son of a teenage chieftain? One who would be king? It's funny…I used to spend a lot of my time worrying about my people or my ability to lead..." She paused her to wipe away a tear, before continuing. "But when I look carefully, I can still see the worry in their eyes. It's far more common than when my mother was chief…I wonder if I will ever be as great a chief as you were?"

At that point, a strangled sob left her throat. "As it is, I know for a fact that I won't be as good a mother as she was. I'm so sorry Sun."

She carefully set down the newly named Sun, leaving a letter pinned to the cloth swaddling the baby, before staring at Sun, committing every last detail to memory.

"Goodbye Sun Wukong, I wish that things could have been different. Maybe one day we can compete in a sand seal race…I think I would enjoy that…"

And without a single backwards glance, she left, leaving Sun to be found by his father the very next day.

* * *

Sun stumbled as he avoided the other boy's swing. He tried to regain his footing, but the older boy was on him and he had to hop backwards to survive the teen's attack.

"Come on, Sun! You can't always run!" Link yelled from outside the area they were fighting in, the words made indistinct by the blood pumping in Sun's ears.

Sun's sword arm was numb and he couldn't wait for the day's training to be done. "I'm just testing him," He lied as he was pushed closer to the cliffs. Another step and Sun would be out of the ring, losing him the match.

For Link's benefit, and to prove that he'd learned something, Sun made a halfhearted attack, cutting Neptune's leg, but Neptune bashed the sword aside and launched a counter, catching him on the wrist.

Sun yelped and, having had enough, was about to step out of the ring when Neptune leapt forward, swinging for him. Sun threw himself back, hoping to avoid being hit again, but his heel hit one of the stones marking the circle's boundaries and he went down with significant force.

He was on his back, near the cliff's edge, and the ocean was loud enough to set his teeth chattering. He glanced down and wondered if rolling over and letting himself fall could hurt any worse than his wrist and bruised ribs already did. But that was ridiculous on Sun's part. To fall off of the body would be death.

"Get up, Sun," Link said.

He did, slowly and without enthusiasm.

"Hey, look," Neptune said, pointing to the water.

Sun saw it then. From the ground, he'd missed the boat.

"Are they mad?" Neptune uttered.

"What is it?" Link asked.

"It's a boat."

Link, Sun's father and the man in charge of Neptune's training, walked over. The three of them watched the small boat bob in the waters. "They'll be lucky if they don't drown," Link finally said.

"Can you tell who they are?" Neptune asked Sun, who was known for his sharp eyes.

"They're not one of ours…" He trailed off, squinting.

Link looked closer. "Bandits?"

"Maybe," Sun offered. "I don't see anyone on it. It's heading for the boneyard."

"Well, then we'll leave it to it's death then," Link said, still trying to pick out details that might identify the boat's occupants as enemies or not. "My concern is your sword work. Let's go again."

Boat forgotten, Neptune smiled and moved to the opposite side of the ring, swinging his sword in looping circles. He loved fighting, and couldn't wait to join the war.

Link walked over to Sun, grabbed the sword belt he was wearing, and pretended to be adjusting it for him. "You need to give everything to this," He said, almost too quietly for Sun to hear.

"Why?" Sun asked. "I won't win. It'll only drag out the loss and end my day in pain."

"I'm not asking you to win. That's not solely in your control." Link said. "I'm just asking that you fight to win. Anything less is the acceptance of loss and admission that you deserve it."

As Sun nursed his wrist, already swollen and likely to welt, his father finished tightening his sword belt, then stepped out of the ring.

"At the ready!" He shouted.

Sun looked at the teen he was about to fight. Neptune was taller, stronger and faster. Neptune was born that way, and Sun couldn't see the point in giving his all to a game that he knew was unfair.

"Remember, both of you," Link lectured. "By attacking, you push your opponent to defend."

Sun wasn't listening. He'd spotted Neptune's betrothed, Annette. She'd just crested the hill, arm in arm with another girl.

Link raised his fist. "Fight!"

Wanting to impress the new witnesses, and against his better judgement, Sun ran at Neptune. The teen was surprised by the aggression, but he rose to the challenge and attacked high, too high.

It was a rare opening, and thanking his stars for his luck, Sun lunged, sending a strike that would have killed Kafei if they weren't using practice blades. The attack didn't land. Kafei had baited him, expecting the thrust, only to whirl away and away from the strike.

Hitting nothing, Sun stumbled forward and was trying to catch his bearings when Kafei's sword hit him below the armpit. The blow knocked Sun further off balance, drove the air from his lungs, his fall accompanied by women's laughter.

Embarrassed and battered, Sun looked up to see that his audience had grown. Another adult was standing next to the girls. A man.

"Neptune," The man said to Neptune, not sparing a glance for Sun. Sun thought his name was Ingo. "I've come from the keep. Your father and brother are looking for you."

Neptune grimaced. He wasn't close to his older brother, and Sun couldn't blame him. Pluto was self-impressed, condescending, and the single best argument against making first borns anything important.

"I'm training."

"It's news from the Gerudo."

That caught Sun's attention. News about the Gerudo was rare.

"Yes sir. It's the queen….She...Well, she's dead."

Annette gasped, the other girl covered her mouth, and Neptune looked dumbfounded. Sun turned to his father, but couldn't read the expression on his face.

"W-who leads them now?" Kafei asked.

"It's undecided, as Queen Makeela had no heirs."

This was unprecedented. Makeela's line had been ruling over the Gerudo since as long as history had been recorded. No one knew what was going to happen now.

Neptune looked to Sun's dad. "Sorry Link, I have to go."

Link nodded him off, and Neptune marched for the keep, and the girls, eager to hear gossip rushed after him.

"Cancer." The man hawked and spat on the ground. "Hard to believe things like that can kill royalty. Maybe it was for the best that their line died out." His voice lowered. "Let's not forget, it's been a long time since any of the Gerudo's have been gifted." Sun had to lean in to hear that, and he saw his father stiffen.

The man saw it too. "I'm just saying is all." He said, turning down the hill to the two servants waiting near a food wagon.

"One small portion and and adult portion for Link."

"Hey! I can eat more than that!" Sun said, annoyed at the man ordering for him.

He shrugged. "Make it bigger then."

One of the men took two sacks from the wagon and tried to run up the hill. The scrawny man, dressed in little better than rags, couldn't keep the pace and slowed to a hurried walk before getting to them. Breathing hard from the run, he placed the sacks by Sun's feet and waited to see if the man needed anything more. He kept his head down and Sun couldn't blame him. They would be beaten if they angered the man in any way and Sun wasn't sure the thin man could survive that.

"Sun," his father said.

Sun gathered up the sacks, making a show of examining their contents, but when the man looked away, he placed two potatoes near the man. The man's eyes widened at the unexpected offering, and hand shaking, he snatched them up, tucking them under his clothes.

"Coming!" Sun said to his father.

The man looked half starved. He needed food. Sun did too though. He trained most afternoons and that was hard to do on an empty stomach.

Neptune would have called him soft hearted. He'd have said the man's lot was his own doing. As Sun walked past the food station, his father put a hand on his shoulder. "Kindly done," Link whispered, little escaping his notice. Then, louder, he said. "Take the food home. I need to see about increasing patrols."

Sun nodded and went to do as he was bid. He made it three steps before he heard someone shouting from down the mountain. The muscular man, along with a full unit of men was running. He was drenched in sweat, his sword's scabbard slapping at his legs. It would have been humorous if not for the look of his face. He was terrified.

"Raid! Raid!" He yelled, struggling to be heard over the roar. "The bandits are raiding!"

* * *

Sun moved to his father's side as the man arrived.

"Signal smoke, near Low Town," He said, blowing hard.

"Low Town?" Someone asked.

But he was ignored. "Bandits crossing fields,' that's the message. They must have landed a war party and climbed the cliffs. IF they're in the fields, it won't be long before they reach us."

"Did the message say anything about numbers?" Link asked.

"No, but if they've come this far…"

"Send men. Send everyone," The man pleaded. You can't let them reach us."

Link gave orders to the gathered men. "Fletcher, Ekon, take the men you have and head for the barracks. Empty it out."

"Yes!" Ekon said, frantic. "We must hurry!"

"I'll make for the keep," Link said. "I'll gather the men there and ask for Shade to send some hunstmen. We have to call this in. This isn't a normal raid. If they've come this far, they've come in force. The fighters at the barracks won't be enough.

"Link…" Ekon gulped. "It's just us. Pluto won't let the keep guard come to our defense. I just left him and he says it's too risky to send everyone. He's worried that the bandits might also send bandits here."

Link closed his eyes, drawing a slow breath. "He is not right in this," He said slowly. "If they sailed to get to us, they've to do damage in force. They won't split their fighters and pick at us. They'll attack as one. They'll destroy us." He looked down the mountain, in the direction of the keep. "I have to speak with Pluto. We need someone to call the academy, and we need enough men to defend the place until the huntsmen arrive. We need the guard."

"He won't…" Ekon said, trailing off and knuckling his sword's pommel. "Pluto's already called for the huntsman, but he also ordered me to tell you to lead the defense. He says he'll see to the keep's safety...Link he won't go Low Town, and he won't let the guards go either."

Fletcher shot looks at the men discussing the fate of his home. "What does this mean? What do we do?" He asked.

Link looked at the sky. It was a cloudless day, merciless in this heat. "We defend Low Town." He said simply. "It's what we do."

Ekon's forehead wrinkled with lines of worry, but he turned to the men and did his best to sound eager. "You heard the man. Move!"

The fighters, Ekon and the men went up the mountains, making for the path. It was the quickest way to the barracks and to Low Town.

"Go home," Link told Sun, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you when it's done."

He squeezed Sun's shoulder, patted it, and left. Sun there and watched his father follow the rest, the lot of them racing against what little time the people in Low Town had left.

He hadn't seen his father that concerned in a long time. It meant Link didn't think that they would hold Low Town. It meant that there was a good chance that they would die.

"No…," Sun moaned. "Not because of Pluto. Not because of that coward."

He rushed to the closest bit of brush and hid his practice blade and rations. He belted on his sharpened iron sword, the one that belonged to his grandfather, and gripped it's hilt. He felt the etchings his father had added, spelling out his family name in a spiral that wound its way from pommel to guard. "Wukong." It read.

Steadied and feeling ready for the task ahead, Sun ran down the mountain, in the opposite direction his father had gone. He went to find Neptune. Pluto might be craven, but Neptune was as decent as rich folk came. He'd help. He'd tell his mother to order the keep's men to go Low Town, and that would stop Sun's father from getting killed.

Before long, the Keep, the largest building in Hi Town came into view. It was two floors tall, had a central courtyard, and was surrounded by an adobe wall that was nine feet high. The adobe was smooth enough that spoke to Hi Town's wealth.

"What are you doing here, brat?" A reedy voice asked from above.

Sun looked to the top of the wall. It was Alois, one of the men assigned to be a keep guard. Alois had always been a blistering oaf, and a full two years older than Sun. He hadn't passed the test to be a part of the military, nor had he tried to apply to be a huntsman, so he had come back from the capital with his head low and prospects grim.

He'd been lucky. Sun's father had spoken on his behalf, and on the strength of Link's word, the keep guard took Alois as one of their own. Most of Alois's family were dead, and if Link hadn't vouched for him, Alois would have followed in their footsteps. As it stood, Sun felt owed.

"Open the gate Alois. I don't have time."

"Don't have time? Where's your hurry?"

"Raid." Sun said simply, hoping the news would shock the guard to action.

"Just heard. What's that got to do with you?"

"I have to see Neptune."

"He know you're here?"

"What do you think?" Sun asked.

"Don't know what you're fooling about," Alois muttered, disappearing behind the wall. A moment later, Sun heard the heavy latch on the bronze gate swing up and away.

"Hurry. In you get."

"Thanks Alois."

"Didn't open it for you. Tell Link I said hello."

Leaving the gate behind, Sun came to a juncture in the keep's paths and stopped. Neptune could be almost anywhere, and worried he was making the wrong choice, he went towards where he knew Neptune's room was.

He moved through the keep's yards at a brisk walk, head down, tail hidden, trying not to draw the attention of anyone. As a faunus AND an outsider, he'd stand out and didn't want to be stopped or, worse, prevented from getting to Neptune.

He sped up, eyes on the dirt, anxious to get where he was going, which was why he came to frightfully close to knocking his older half sister on her ass.

"What in the...Sun?" Luna asked, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. "Why are you here?"

"Hello Luna"

"Don't 'hello' me."

"Uh...how's your mother?"

"That'll depend," Luna said, glaring at Sun like she'd found a roach in her room. "On what I tell her about seeing you here."

"I'm looking for...Neptune asked to see me."

Luna squinted at him. "Neptune?"

"Yes. There's a raid in the mountains…"

"He's in the bathhouse. Find him and leave, before I tell my mother."

Your mother. Sun scoffed, inclining his head and hurrying back to the path that he hadn't selected. He swore he could feel Luna's stark blue eyes on his back as he went. She hated having a faunus as a sibling.

It made Sun want to yell that he was just as good as she was. It wouldn't have done any good. Luna nor her mother would have anything to do with him, or Link.

Pushing his sister out of his mind, Sun stepped up to the bathhouse, opened the door and was hit by a blast of hot scented air. "Neptune?" He called into the fog. He didn't dare go in. "Neptune?"

"Sun? That you?" Called a familiar voice. "What are you doing?"

He'd only have one chance to convince Neptune to help. "There's a fight coming," Sun said, "And if we don't do something, the people your family pledged to protect will die."

Sun heard water slosh around, and then Neptune appeared through the steam, towering over him, stark naked.

"What?"

Pluto hadn't told Neptune about the raid. Sun corrected that, telling him everything, then begging him for help. "Go to your mother," He said. "She's the head. Tell her the defense will fail without more men."

"Sun, I'm the second child. Pluto's the one being groomed to command our men. She won't go against him on my word."

"Neptune-"

"She won't Sun."

"We have to do something!" Sun bit out, struggling to keep his voice respectful.

"I know, I know. There's a fight coming and my family must protect the people." Neptune clapped Sun's chest with a open palm. "I have it."

"Have what?"

"I have a plan."

* * *

"There," Sun said, pointing at a flickering light in the distance. "Do you see it?" The light was bright against the evening's darkness, but he was never sure how well or far Neptune could see.

"I see it," Neptune responded. "They're burning Low Town."

He picked up the pace, and Sun, lungs raw from running, struggled to keep up with his friend's longer strides.

He couldn't believe he'd gone along with Neptune's plan and tried not to think about what they'd find when they got there.

"What if this doesn't work?" Sun asked. "What if they don't come?"

"They'll come."

Before leaving the keep, Neptune had gone to its barracks and informed everyone that he was going to Low Town to defend it. The highest ranking guard in the room tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't be swayed.

It was clever, Neptune couldn't countermand Pluto's orders, but the guards were bound, on pain of death, to protect every member of the Vasillas Family. By letting them know he was putting himself in harm's way. Neptune was forcing them to organize and send a guard to protect him. Sun hoped the extra men would be enough.

"Swords out!" Neptune warned as they came over a hill. Sun pulled his weapon free, looked down at the city, and froze.

Low Town sat on a plateau with natural borders. The most obvious border was four hundred feet directly ahead. There, the plateau became mountainous again and the rock continued its climb to the clouds. To Sun's right, and roughly eight hundred feet away, was Low Town's central circle. Beyond it, the plateau ended in a series of steep but scalable cliffs that dropped towards the valley floor. On Sun's left were the bandits.

The bandits had come from the paths leading to Low Town's growing fields, and they had burned half the city already. The flaxen roofs of the larger houses were on fire, and in the nights dark, the flames silhouetted the fleeing women, men and children.

Link's men were fighting a series of skirmishes between the tightly packed homes and storage barns. They were outnumbered and losing ground but could only go so far. The bandits were herding everyone to the cliffs.

Sun didn't know what he expected, but this wasn't it. Scarred and disfigured, maybe cursed by the grimm, the bandits held neither bone spears or hatchets. They used no recognizable fighting stances and their attacks followed no rhythm or sequence. Worst of all, Link's men were reduced to fighting just as savagely. Both sides hacked at each other, and every so often someone fell back, dead, wounded or maimed.

"What is this?" Sun asked, voice too low for Neptune to hear.

"There!" Neptune shouted, running down, not waiting to see if Sun followed.

Sun tracked his path and saw three of the bandits harrying a woman and child. Neptune yelled, charging in, and Sun chased after him.

By the time he reached the flats, Sun had already engaged two bandits. They were circling his sides, trying to get between him and the woman and child.

Sun went for the third bandit, arcing his sword in a blow meant to decapitate, but the bandit brought up a hatchet and blocked the strike. The bandit, a mass of dirty hair and mud caked skin, blundered forward, swinging the weapon low, aiming for Sun's thigh.

Sun leapt back, fear lending him speed, and the hatchet's blade hissed past his kneecap, a hairsbreadth from taking his leg off at the calf. Blood pumping and desperate to shift the fight's momentum in his favor, Sun attacked. He stabbed out with his blade, aiming for the heart, as he'd been taught, kept his eye on the target, ready to react when he dodged.

The collision, then, was a surprise. Sun's blade plunged from tip to hilt, into and through his opponent's chest. The bandit had made no move to avoid the sword point at all.

Sun didn't understand. The lunge had been obvious. It wasn't a serious killing blow. Anyone with decent training would have avoided it.

He looked into the face of the person he'd stabbed. The woman's eyes were big and wide, staring at something in the distance. Her mouth, full-lipped, formed an O, and the bandit's hair, dreaded from lack of care, hung down her scarred face.

Sun pulled back in revulsion, but his blade wouldn't come free. This woman-or girl; he couldn't tell-cried out as the blade ripped her insides.

"Sun!" Neptune's voice sounded far away. "Are you hurt?"

"No...I-I hurt her, I think." Sun heard himself respond.

"Get up. More are coming. We have to make it to the rest of our men," Neptune responded. "Is that your blood?"

"Blood?"

"Your face."

Neptune and the woman and child were staring at him. The two bandits who had faced Neptune were dead.d

"It's not me." Sun told them. "Not mine."

"We have to go."

Sun nodded, struggled to jerk his blade free from the woman's body, took a step, doubled over, and threw up. Nothing came up. He retched again, his stomach still heaving when he forced himself upright. The child was staring at him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his blood streaked hand. "Fine," He said. "I'm fine."

Neptune looked Sun over and began moving. "We have to go."

Sun followed, looking back once. The woman he'd fought lay in the mud like a broken doll. He'd never killed someone. He was shaking. He'd never-

"This way," Neptune said as the four of them weaved between huts and buildings, doing their best to avoid the fighting all around them.

Neptune was leading them towards the barricade that the men had set up at the edge of the central circle. They'd used overturned wagons, tables, even broken-down doors to block the paths that led to it. They were making a stand. They wouldn't last. They were too many of them.

"In here!" Neptune shoved the woman, who had picked up and was carrying the child, through the open door of a hut. He dashed in after her, and Sun was right behind them.

The hut was far larger than the one Sun shared with his father. It must belong to someone high up. Maybe even Ekon, he thought as the first bandit burst through the doorway.

The man, hatchet out, made for Neptune. He didn't see Sun and Sun sliced at him, cutting into his arm. Hollering in pain, the bandit stumbled into the nearest wall, and Neptune stabbed him in the gut.

The bandit through the door had a spear. It was a woman. Seeing a second female fighter gave him pause.

He should attack. He didn't. She thrust her spear at him and it would have taken out his throat if he Neptune hadn't reacted, knocking it from her hands.

She drew a dagger from her belt. Sun remained rooted, noticing instead that she wore no armor. She had on earth toned wrappings that covered her breasts and looped around her back, where it dove into loose and flowing pants. She was sandled and hands were bangled, the golden bangles bouncing as she flicked her dagger at Neptune.

Neptune danced back. She came forward and Sun saw his chance. He was behind her. He just had to kill her.

On weak knees, Sun stepped forward and swung his sword as hard as he could, sending the flat of his blade hammering into the side of her head, knocking her down. Neptune followed up. He kicked the dagger from her hand and leapt on her, pressing his sword to her neck.

"You speak english?!" Neptune snarled. "How many ships did you bring here? How many bandits?" He pressed the point of the sword into her neck, drawing blood. "Speak or die!"

She looked frightened, but spat in Neptune's face, closed her eyes and began to spasm. Neptune scurried back, creating distance as her skin bubbled and boiled. Blood erupted from her nose, ears, mouth and eyes and she began to scream. Then like a candle blown, her life was gone, snuffed out.

The woman let out a choked gasp and turned away, holding her child closer. The child was crying. Neptune was still as stone, watching the woman with wide eyes.

He turned to Sun, mouth open, brow furrowed. "Grimm death," He said. "Your dad said it's what they do when captured. I didn't believe him."

Sun could think of nothing worth saying.

Neptune stood, wiped the woman's spit from his face, and stumbled away, using the wall for support. Sun, along with the woman and child, followed. Neptune bashed out a shuttered window at the back of the building and they crawled out of it, emerging in the middle of a circle of tightly packed homes.

In front of them was a storage barn, and they were still a hundred strides from the barricade. Neptune tried the barn's door. They hadn't been seen and could go through the long building. With luck, they'd come out a short run from the barricade and the rest of their people. Neptune broke down the door's lock and they went in.

The storage barn was large, but its interior was tight, crammed with shelves, most empty. That was bad. It was almost harvest time, and if the storehouse was any indication, there would be trouble feeding the citizens of Low Town.

As they slunk through, Sun began to have trouble breathing.

"What are you doing?" Neptune whispered.

He couldn't stop panting and felt dizzy. "Too close," he said.

"What?"

Sun squeezed his eyes shut. It didn't help and he couldn't get enough air. He stopped moving, unable to keep going, when a cool hand slipped in his.

"It's just a few more steps," The woman told him. "Keep your eyes closed, I'll guide you."

Sun nodded and stumbled after her.

"Ready?" Neptune asked.

Sun, still nauseous, opened an eye. They'd walked the length of the storehouse and were at its front doors. "Hurry." he said, wanting nothing more than to be outside.

"If it's willed, we'll have a clear run for the barricade," Neptune told him. "We make it there and we're safe."

Sun wasn't sure that anywhere in Low Town could be called safe. He'd seen how many bandits were out there.

"Ready?" Sun asked again.

The woman, eyes wide, nodded.

"Go!" Neptune yelled, kicking the door open.

Sun pitched his way through, fixated on being free of the barn, and ran into a startled bandit. He bowled the man over and Neptune stabbed the man. There were four, maybe five other bandits, but they were fighting others. Neptune joined the fight, and Sun, head spinning, grabbed the woman's hand, pulling her away.

The barricade was just ahead and he went for it. The woman, carrying the child, was slowing him, and he could picture bandits running them down. Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the woman's hand and pulled her after him. The men behind the barricade saw him coming. Sun thought he recognized one of them, but the blood caked on the man's face made it hard to tell.

As they hit the barricade, the man shoved aside a pile of overturned chairs, making a climbable path for Sun and his two charges.

"Your turn now," The bloody faced man yelled, after the woman and child were behind the wall.

"Rusl?"

"Sun?" Rusl asked. "What are you doing here? Never mind, climb up!"

"Can't. Neptune's still out there."

"Neptune's here?" The shock in Rusl's voice spoke volumes.

Sun nodded, and with fear grasping at his guts, he forced himself to turn and run back to the fighting. He didn't have to go far. They were coming to him.

Neptune was bleeding through the arm of his shirt and the other warriors carried one of their own.

"I'm fine," Neptune waved off Sun's concern. "Let's get behind the barricade."

Sun helped carried the wounded man to the wall.

"Neptune?" Rusl asked, mouth dropping open. Sun had warned him, but actually seeing the Vasillas in the middle of a raid must have been too much for him to accept.

Rusl helped lift the wounded man and then helped Sun and Neptune. Once the last fighter was over the barricade, they shifted the rubble back in place, blocking the way.

Behind it, Sun had hoped to feel safe. He didn't. Most of the men were injured, the ones fighting at the contested sections were being overwhelmed, and the untrained citizens were frantic.

Looking beyond the barricade, Sun saw that the bandits were being heavily reinforced, and possibly a hundred more of them were racing down the paths. Sun looked to Neptune, and for once, the optimistic boy looked worried. This was not a battle they could win. Even Neptune's guard, if they made it before everyone was dead, would only slow the inevitable.

"Get back boys." Rusl cautioned. "They're coming."

"Let them," Neptune said, stepping up to the barricade.

Rusl looked like he had more to say, but said nothing. Instead, he shifted, making room. Sun stepped up on Neptune's other side. "For Vacuo," he said with little conviction, which was still more than he felt.

"For honor," intoned Neptune and Rusl together. The three men hefted their weapons. The barricade wouldn't hold and wouldn't last, not against the number of bandits coming for them, but they would do the best that they could.

* * *

The first wave of bandits hit the barricade, and it was madness. Sun stabbed and swung at limbs and faces. He sliced away someone's fingers, praying they'd come from an enemy's hand; was almost scalped by one of the bandits; and barely managed to push away a third before she could climb onto his side of the barricade.

It didn't matter. There were too many. There had always been too many. It was why there were usually huntsmen to fight them. It was why the huntsmen were blessed with aura.

The burst of fire exploded in front of the barricade, singing Sun's eyebrows. He threw himself back, away from the searing heat, and as soon as he regained some semblance of sense, he saw that Neptune and Rusl were on the ground too. Sun tried to speak. His spit had been cooked away.

"Huntsmen!" Yelled a hoarse voice from farther down the barricade. "Huntsmen!"

His vision swimming, Sun looked up and saw his first huntsmen up close. The behemoth, his body a mass of pure black armor that drank in light, twisted through the air. Sun watched him course towards the bandits, lashing the smoke from the fires to hazy shreds.

When he was close enough, the huntsmen swung his blade and lit the evening with his own twisted pillar of sun bright flame, thick as three men. Sun tottered to his feet and climbed the barricade, watching the huntsman chain of fire explode against the ground. The bandits that were hit were vaporized, and the huntsman moved on, looking for more victims.

"Sun?" a voice said that he would recognize anywhere.

"Dad!" He said, turning to face Link.

"Why, Sun?" his father asked. "Why?"

Sun's mouth opened and closed, no words coming out.

"After I heard about the raid, I sought him out and ordered him to accompany me." Neptune lied. "It's my duty as a Vasillas to fight with my mother's men. I know I'm not a warrior yet, but this is my place and I couldn't come alone."

Link eyed Neptune and shouted to nearby listeners. "Shore up the barricades! The huntsmen won't do us any good when the bandits are mixed in with our own people." The gawkers snapped into actions. "Neptune, as the leader of your mother's fighters, your place is best decided by me. By coming here, you've risked your life."

Neptune was forced to nod, accepting the strict chastisement that Link could give him. Sun looked down and away. The words were also meant for him.

"Please, Link, accept my apologies," Neptune offered. "I'm only doing what I believe I must." He lifted his chin and seemed to stand straighter. "I also went to the keep barracks. The guard knows I'm here. They'll send men."

Link grunted. "Ill advised, but smartly done. My men and I thank you for it. Now stay back from the fighting." He marched away to give his men more orders. "It would break my heart to have to tell your parents that you'd died." More words for Sun.

"Men," Link shouted. "Form up and help the people carry what they can." Everyone began moving. "If Vacuo have sent huntsmen, then that means we need to run."

"Run?" Neptune asked Sun.

The roar of several hundred foreign voices answered inSun's stead and the two stepped onto the barricade in time to see the full force of bandits charging in their direction.

"Oh no…" breathed Rusl, his voice a little more than a whisper against the force heading their way.

"Away from the barricade," Link ordered. "Run. Now!"

Neptune was off the barricade first, Rusl and Sun right behind him. Needing little encouragement from the soldiers, the townspeople abandoned everything but their loved ones, and they ran too.

"We're being herded," Neptune shouted. "When the flats end, we'll hit the cliffs. There's nothing this way."

The raid had been well planned. The initial attacking force was large, but not too large. The soldiers and townspeople had been led to believe they could hold Low Town and had willingly trapped themselves with their backs to the cliffs. Once they'd down that, they launched their real attack, proving Link's worst fears. This was no raid.

This was an extermination.

The huntsman made a difference. It would thin the bandits' numbers, but like Link had said, if the bandits got in among the people, the huntsman would have to hold back or destroy the people he had come to save. Sun's father had thought this through and knew what would come next.

"Men." He shouted. "Form up, battle lines."

It was the only reasonable choice. The men would stand and fight. They'd slow the bandits enough to allow the townspeople some choice at escape.

Sun stopped running and turned to face the horrifying mass of enemy flesh, with their sharpened steel and bones. Rusl was beside him, his presence a surprising comfort. His father ran up as well.

"Neptune, Sun," He told them. "I need you to guide the townspeople down the mountain. Take them to safety."

"You ask too much Link," Neptune responded. "I'll be no help to them, and you can't save me from this fate. I'll stay, just like every other fighter here."

Conflicting emotions played across Link's face. Sun saw pride and fear warring with each other. He'd been trying to save them.

"We'll show them what it means to be warriors father," Sun said, hands shaking.

"So we will," Link said, holding Sun's eyes with his, before turning to yell his orders to the rest. "Tighten the lines. Stand firm. Remember, the men to your left, to your right, they're your sword brothers. Keep them safe and they'll do the same for you."

Link stopped there, waiting for the right moment. It came quickly. "For Honor!" He bellowed.

"For Honor!" They screamed back as the bandits' front line smashed into them.

* * *

Not a crossover, I'm just bad with names. You won't see any Gerudo, or Ganondorf or anything along those lines. This is a pure RWBY fic.


End file.
